The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Basil plant botanically known as Ocimum basilicum and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Obsidian’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Elburn, Ill. during June 2009. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Basil cultivars with dark purple-colored foliage, and delayed flowering.
The new Basil cultivar was the result of a self-pollination of the proprietary Ocimum basilicum breeding selection coded BSL8-1-2-1, not patented, characterized by its dark purple-colored flowers, dark purple-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, upright growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated self-pollination during June 2011 in a controlled environment in Elburn, Ill.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since June 2011 in Elburn, Ill. and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.